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Dark Passages #1
White Space
In the tradition of Memento and Inception comes a thrilling and scary young adult novel about blurred reality where characters in a story find that a deadly and horrifying world exists in the space between the written lines.
Seventeen-year-old Emma Lindsay has problems: a head full of metal, no parents, a crazy artist for a guardian whom a stroke has turned into a vegetable, and all those times when she blinks away, dropping into other lives so ghostly and surreal it's as if the story of her life bleeds into theirs. But one thing Emma has never doubted is that she's real.
Then she writes "White Space," a story about these kids stranded in a spooky house during a blizzard.
Unfortunately, "White Space" turns out to be a dead ringer for part of an unfinished novel by a long-dead writer. The manuscript, which she's never seen, is a loopy Matrix meets Inkheart story in which characters fall out of different books and jump off the page. Thing is, when Emma blinks, she might be doing the same and, before long, she's dropped into the very story she thought she'd written. Trapped in a weird, snow-choked valley, Emma meets other kids with dark secrets and strange abilities: Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie. What they discover is that they—and Emma—may be nothing more than characters written into being from an alternative universe for a very specific purpose.
Now what they must uncover is why they've been brought to this place—a world between the lines where parallel realities are created and destroyed and nightmares are written—before someone pens their end.
Seventeen-year-old Emma Lindsay has problems: a head full of metal, no parents, a crazy artist for a guardian whom a stroke has turned into a vegetable, and all those times when she blinks away, dropping into other lives so ghostly and surreal it's as if the story of her life bleeds into theirs. But one thing Emma has never doubted is that she's real.
Then she writes "White Space," a story about these kids stranded in a spooky house during a blizzard.
Unfortunately, "White Space" turns out to be a dead ringer for part of an unfinished novel by a long-dead writer. The manuscript, which she's never seen, is a loopy Matrix meets Inkheart story in which characters fall out of different books and jump off the page. Thing is, when Emma blinks, she might be doing the same and, before long, she's dropped into the very story she thought she'd written. Trapped in a weird, snow-choked valley, Emma meets other kids with dark secrets and strange abilities: Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie. What they discover is that they—and Emma—may be nothing more than characters written into being from an alternative universe for a very specific purpose.
Now what they must uncover is why they've been brought to this place—a world between the lines where parallel realities are created and destroyed and nightmares are written—before someone pens their end.
Audio CD
First published February 11, 2014
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About the author
Ilsa J. Bick
72 books1,597 followersAmong other things, I was an English major in college and so I know that I'm supposed to write things like, "Ilsa J. Bick is ." Except I hate writing about myself in the third person like I'm not in the room. Helloooo, I'm right here . . . So let's just say that I'm a child psychiatrist (yeah, you read that right)as well as a film scholar, surgeon wannabe (meaning I did an internship in surgery and LOVED it and maybe shoulda stuck), former Air Force major—and an award-winning, best-selling author of short stories, e-books, and novels. Believe me, no one is more shocked about this than I . . . unless you talk to my mother.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 381 reviews
September 1, 2013
1.5
Goodreads ratings are going to drive me insane one of these days. Many times there have been books that I give one or two stars to and it seems wrong somehow. Because I don't mean "this book is terrible" or "stay away from this", I mean "I didn't like it" or "it wasn't my thing". And that's a bit like how I feel about White Space. I feel my rating doesn't say what needs to be said. I also think this book is going to be a real mind-blowing favourite in the hands of the right reader, but I know that myself (and quite a lot of other people I know on goodreads) won't be that right reader. This is my first read by Bick so I can't compare it to the author's other work, but I will say that it's a complex, densely-written mindfuck.
I'm going to try to give you some idea of where I stand when it comes to complex sci-fi so you can see if we're likely to think the same. White Space is compared to The Matrix - a movie which I like a lot - but if you found the concept in The Matrix even vaguely complex, you might feel the neurons in your brain starting to explode while reading White Space. Plus, if you ask me, The Matrix is mentioned far too many times in this book; it felt like the author was trying to convince us of the similarities and it didn't work for me. Though I think what makes White Space even harder to struggle through (and struggle through I did), is not simply the complexity of the story, but the fact that the majority of these 560 pages keeps you completely in the dark. There's only so much not knowing that I can take before I lose interest and no longer care. When you don't know what's going on for many pages of a book, I suppose it can go two ways: either your need-to-know is strong enough to keep you reading (as it was for me in Charm & Strange) or your lack of understanding leads to a lack of caring. As it was here.
The truth is, the idea behind this story is fantastic. It's mainly about a seventeen year old girl called Emma who experiences "blinks". During these blinks, she zones out and finds herself viewing the life of someone else. One of these other lives is the life of Lizzie McDermott who is the daughter of a famous author - Frank McDermott. Frank has been meddling where he shouldn't, using the Dark Passages to travel to what are essentially alternate universes and dragging things from the Dark Passages onto White Space. I'd like to say this makes a lot more sense when you read the book, but that might be something of a lie. Anyway, Frank has become addicted to the Dark Passages and this is, to put it lightly, a very bad thing.
Sounds really unique and imaginative, right? Oh, it is. But the cool idea and the interesting payoff in the end didn't make up for nearly 600 pages of dense writing and boredom. The way it was written made the book feel twice the length it was, even forcing me to re-read passages in order to understand what was going on. The constant changing of POVs also meant I struggled to feel a single connection to any character. I felt like I was trying to watch and understand something moving at 200mph but I couldn't make sense of it. New POVs came whizzing in from nowhere and transported me to another equally confusing part of the story. This may be the first time I've used the words "couldn't put it down" as a negative because I literally couldn't put it down if I wanted to carry on understanding what was happening. Every time real life demanded my attention, I'd return and have to skim read the previous chapter to work out where the hell I was in the story (and this is coming from someone who regularly reads 3 or 4 books at once with ease).
There's some fantastic philosophical questioning going on here when you get into the story and I really do LOVE the idea of it. Bick makes us question the nature of reality and that would normally have me freaking out with happiness. But it's too dense, too all over the place, too many POV changes... the result, for me, was less brilliance and more of a mess. I think readers' opinions will be seriously divided on this one. I read a positive review that said: "This book exists solely for the payoff at the end" which couldn't be more accurate. Maybe that statement will help you decide whether this one is for you or not.
Goodreads ratings are going to drive me insane one of these days. Many times there have been books that I give one or two stars to and it seems wrong somehow. Because I don't mean "this book is terrible" or "stay away from this", I mean "I didn't like it" or "it wasn't my thing". And that's a bit like how I feel about White Space. I feel my rating doesn't say what needs to be said. I also think this book is going to be a real mind-blowing favourite in the hands of the right reader, but I know that myself (and quite a lot of other people I know on goodreads) won't be that right reader. This is my first read by Bick so I can't compare it to the author's other work, but I will say that it's a complex, densely-written mindfuck.
I'm going to try to give you some idea of where I stand when it comes to complex sci-fi so you can see if we're likely to think the same. White Space is compared to The Matrix - a movie which I like a lot - but if you found the concept in The Matrix even vaguely complex, you might feel the neurons in your brain starting to explode while reading White Space. Plus, if you ask me, The Matrix is mentioned far too many times in this book; it felt like the author was trying to convince us of the similarities and it didn't work for me. Though I think what makes White Space even harder to struggle through (and struggle through I did), is not simply the complexity of the story, but the fact that the majority of these 560 pages keeps you completely in the dark. There's only so much not knowing that I can take before I lose interest and no longer care. When you don't know what's going on for many pages of a book, I suppose it can go two ways: either your need-to-know is strong enough to keep you reading (as it was for me in Charm & Strange) or your lack of understanding leads to a lack of caring. As it was here.
The truth is, the idea behind this story is fantastic. It's mainly about a seventeen year old girl called Emma who experiences "blinks". During these blinks, she zones out and finds herself viewing the life of someone else. One of these other lives is the life of Lizzie McDermott who is the daughter of a famous author - Frank McDermott. Frank has been meddling where he shouldn't, using the Dark Passages to travel to what are essentially alternate universes and dragging things from the Dark Passages onto White Space. I'd like to say this makes a lot more sense when you read the book, but that might be something of a lie. Anyway, Frank has become addicted to the Dark Passages and this is, to put it lightly, a very bad thing.
Sounds really unique and imaginative, right? Oh, it is. But the cool idea and the interesting payoff in the end didn't make up for nearly 600 pages of dense writing and boredom. The way it was written made the book feel twice the length it was, even forcing me to re-read passages in order to understand what was going on. The constant changing of POVs also meant I struggled to feel a single connection to any character. I felt like I was trying to watch and understand something moving at 200mph but I couldn't make sense of it. New POVs came whizzing in from nowhere and transported me to another equally confusing part of the story. This may be the first time I've used the words "couldn't put it down" as a negative because I literally couldn't put it down if I wanted to carry on understanding what was happening. Every time real life demanded my attention, I'd return and have to skim read the previous chapter to work out where the hell I was in the story (and this is coming from someone who regularly reads 3 or 4 books at once with ease).
There's some fantastic philosophical questioning going on here when you get into the story and I really do LOVE the idea of it. Bick makes us question the nature of reality and that would normally have me freaking out with happiness. But it's too dense, too all over the place, too many POV changes... the result, for me, was less brilliance and more of a mess. I think readers' opinions will be seriously divided on this one. I read a positive review that said: "This book exists solely for the payoff at the end" which couldn't be more accurate. Maybe that statement will help you decide whether this one is for you or not.
April 24, 2020
how on earth i managed to forget halfway through that this was only the first part of something is beyond me. but i did.
and i wouldn't call that ending a cliffhanger so much as a non-ending. and i don't mean that as criticism, although it sounds like one. were this not part of a series, yes, those would be fighting words, but since there is more to come, i will just say i was…surprised that it ended where it did, and it felt like almost 600 pages of buildup that left me a little stranded.
this has been billed as the matrix meets inkheart. i have not seen the matrix. i have not read inkheart. i know what both of them are about, more or less, but i can't tell you how much this book is informed by them. she refers to so many specific scenes from the matrix that i think it would have been helpful for me to have had that in my back pocket o'references. however, she does allude to several other movies i have seen: shutter island, inception, identity (WHY, john cusack, WHYYY?), so just by looking at those movies all grouped together, you have a pretty good sense of what this book is about and the way it is going to play with reality/illusion/artifice.
my caution to you: the first chapter/thirty pages is kind of a trial to get through. she thrusts you into an off-kilter situation with lots of white space-specific vocabulary: dark passages, nows, panops, peculiars, thought-magic glass, sign of sure, dickens mirror, monster-doll, hanger-on, and i was very "it is that kind of book?? i don't yike it!!" and it's a situation you will not understand until you get further in. the tone of it was very dark-fantasy without footholds and i was fearful that i was going to have to struggle through 500 pages of this kooky world that i just wasn't feeling off the bat. but then it broadens (oh, how it broadens) and you get to enter the story through several characters who are discovering the flexible parameters of the world along with you, the reader, and it is much smoother sailing after that. if you have a more solid background in sci-fi/fantasy than i do, you probably won't even be fazed. but i was fazed.
i love dark fantasy when it is set in our world, slightly tilted. my difficulty is in absorbing new fantasy-vocabulary and concepts and i have difficulty with make-believe worlds when the author has not prepared the reader enough with world-building foundations. i have to stick my fingers in the wounds to understand. fortunately, after those rocky first 30 pages, this turned into exactly my kind of dark fantasy. i'm not gonna lie - there were parts that confused the hell out of me, this is mind-bending, physics-defying stuff. but it's completely captivating, and i loved the way she built the feeling of dread throughout and dropped enough breadcrumbs for the reader to experience several "aha!" moments and to begin to see the cracks. the journey is worth the sort of dropped ending.
i love how into science the girls in bick's books always are. and even though their at-the-ready explanations under pressure are a little alarming and make me think i should have paid more attention in high school physics, it's great to have smart girls leading the pack through these stories. ooh-rah girl power, etc. i also love how much neurological and psychological material finds its way into her books. it puts them a nice challenging step above most YA offerings, particularly in the horror genre.
it's a dense book with multiple POVs and if i started talking about the actual plot, you would be as confused as i was reading those first thirty pages. the fun of this book is the journey and the discoveries, so even if i could find a way to explain the situation in a way that would make sense and not go off into hundreds of tangents, i probably wouldn't. it is dense and confusing but there are too many exciting brain-buzzy reader-chill payoff moments to dismiss it on those grounds. i will definitely read the second part, even though i know from reading bick before that she is not going to give a damn about reminding you what happened in the first book, so take notes. you will need them.
come to my blog!
and i wouldn't call that ending a cliffhanger so much as a non-ending. and i don't mean that as criticism, although it sounds like one. were this not part of a series, yes, those would be fighting words, but since there is more to come, i will just say i was…surprised that it ended where it did, and it felt like almost 600 pages of buildup that left me a little stranded.
this has been billed as the matrix meets inkheart. i have not seen the matrix. i have not read inkheart. i know what both of them are about, more or less, but i can't tell you how much this book is informed by them. she refers to so many specific scenes from the matrix that i think it would have been helpful for me to have had that in my back pocket o'references. however, she does allude to several other movies i have seen: shutter island, inception, identity (WHY, john cusack, WHYYY?), so just by looking at those movies all grouped together, you have a pretty good sense of what this book is about and the way it is going to play with reality/illusion/artifice.
my caution to you: the first chapter/thirty pages is kind of a trial to get through. she thrusts you into an off-kilter situation with lots of white space-specific vocabulary: dark passages, nows, panops, peculiars, thought-magic glass, sign of sure, dickens mirror, monster-doll, hanger-on, and i was very "it is that kind of book?? i don't yike it!!" and it's a situation you will not understand until you get further in. the tone of it was very dark-fantasy without footholds and i was fearful that i was going to have to struggle through 500 pages of this kooky world that i just wasn't feeling off the bat. but then it broadens (oh, how it broadens) and you get to enter the story through several characters who are discovering the flexible parameters of the world along with you, the reader, and it is much smoother sailing after that. if you have a more solid background in sci-fi/fantasy than i do, you probably won't even be fazed. but i was fazed.
i love dark fantasy when it is set in our world, slightly tilted. my difficulty is in absorbing new fantasy-vocabulary and concepts and i have difficulty with make-believe worlds when the author has not prepared the reader enough with world-building foundations. i have to stick my fingers in the wounds to understand. fortunately, after those rocky first 30 pages, this turned into exactly my kind of dark fantasy. i'm not gonna lie - there were parts that confused the hell out of me, this is mind-bending, physics-defying stuff. but it's completely captivating, and i loved the way she built the feeling of dread throughout and dropped enough breadcrumbs for the reader to experience several "aha!" moments and to begin to see the cracks. the journey is worth the sort of dropped ending.
i love how into science the girls in bick's books always are. and even though their at-the-ready explanations under pressure are a little alarming and make me think i should have paid more attention in high school physics, it's great to have smart girls leading the pack through these stories. ooh-rah girl power, etc. i also love how much neurological and psychological material finds its way into her books. it puts them a nice challenging step above most YA offerings, particularly in the horror genre.
it's a dense book with multiple POVs and if i started talking about the actual plot, you would be as confused as i was reading those first thirty pages. the fun of this book is the journey and the discoveries, so even if i could find a way to explain the situation in a way that would make sense and not go off into hundreds of tangents, i probably wouldn't. it is dense and confusing but there are too many exciting brain-buzzy reader-chill payoff moments to dismiss it on those grounds. i will definitely read the second part, even though i know from reading bick before that she is not going to give a damn about reminding you what happened in the first book, so take notes. you will need them.
come to my blog!
July 31, 2013
I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This is probably the hardest book review I've written in...ever. I loved the book, but there are some parts I don't like about it. I will tag all of my major spoilers, so no worries.
I've also never been one of the first book reviews for something, so I feel like pressure is on. So, if you can deal with me, this will be a rather tangled mess of a review because the book was a rather tangled mess. In a very good way.
I'm flopping between a 4 star rating and a 4.5 star rating. But then sometimes I go to 3.5 because I can't make up my mind.
So White Space is a trippy novel. You follow many characters, but Emma's our main one. Emma suffers from what she calls "blinks." These blinks means she zones out, anytime, anywhere, and imagines a different person's life. Lately, during her blinks, she's following Lizzie McDermott, the daughter of Frank McDermott, a very famous author.
Well, Frank McDermott has been messing around in the Dark Passages. Which is not a good thing. Essentially, his writing is just pulling things from the Dark Passages onto White Space, a space where characters and creatures from the Dark Passages can sort of live. He uses the Dark Passages to travel to different Nows to find different stories. Nows are essentially alternate universes.
Following me so far?
So Frank McDermott has been traveling way too much in the Dark Passages and gets addicted to it, essentially. So he fucks up. Big time.
But Emma is still traveling up a mountain during that blink. A mountain which actually ought not to be there. In this mountain she meets up with our other characters, Rima, Casey, Eric, Tony, Bode, and Chad. (I might be forgetting someone)
All together they decide something's not quite right with this mountain, the storm, and definitely the fog. And decide to investigate and find a way to get the fuck away from the creepy mountain/storm/definitely creepy ass fog.
Then some creepy, Kingdom Hearts Heartless type things come around and things go to hell.
You with me so far? That's the basic premise, but needless to say it gets a lot more awesomer.
In short, I loved this book. However, and note this big however, it will not be for everyone. So let's start out by doing a quick little survey.
Do you mind frequent POV switches?
Do you mind being tossed into a world with little to no explanation at first?
Do you mind gore?
Do you mind waiting a very long time for a very good payoff?
Do you mind being confused a majority of 500 some-odd pages?
Did you answer no to all the above questions? CONGRATS! Go read this fucking book. Because it's seriously good.
I know a lot of the questions all seem like detriments, and for a very long time in the book, some of them are. In fact, I would say that yes, multiple POVs bother me, and I dislike being asked to swim in the middle of an ocean without a life boat nearby, which is what this book does with world building.
But everything is so fascinating! The entire time I was reading it I was like
Creepy ass Heartless (They aren't really Heartless, but I can't imagine them otherwise) pop up and rip someone's skin around their eyes off so you're just left with sockets and it's gross and awesome.
The entire time you're trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. Who are these people? Why did they all meet on the mountain? Some of them have special abilities, like Rima's able to sense death and see crows that mean someone's about to die.
And you know something's wrong, obviously. The mountain and fog are hiding something from them, pushing them towards something. When they get there, when Emma actually gets to the place the fog is pushing her, it is a barn that's really only half formed.
But once the world building starts, once you start getting answers, it's like everything starts to come together in this beautiful mosaic of awesome and convoluted-ness and questioning what reality is. There's a lot of philosophical sophism here and what defines reality and people and yeah.
Lizzie is my favorite character. She's strong for her age and does a remarkable thing of keeping it hidden. She sees the destruction in her father and proactively decides she needs to learn to defend herself against it.
I actually like Rima second best, but that may just be because of all her abilities and again, the strength to push on for friends.
But that's all I can say for the characters. This was a plot driven by characters but mostly by the world building. The world was this constantly changing mess that propelled the characters on this path.
I'm really upset that I can't say more without spoiling the entire book.
This book exists solely for the payoff at the end. If you can't bear through the first seventy percent of the book, swimming in the deep ocean, then this may not be the book for you. But I promise, the payoff is awesome.
I even guessed some of the ending and it was still enough to keep me flipping through pages at work at risk of being caught and fired.
The writing was very solid, and the author did not skimp on the gore. She talked about red fleshy meat while cutting someone's throat and black tendrils eating someone from the inside and burning them alive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And now let's discuss my nitpickiness. As some of you may know, I'm an asshole reader. What I mean by this is that it does not take a lot to turn me off something. I've put books down before because of one cheesy sentence.
Obviously, I nitpick. But here are some of the larger problems I found.
First, did I mention the POV thing? Because it switches rapidly. Some chracters only get four paragraphs and then we're jumping. Other times, the POV is going to switch mid-sentence. I know it's done for dramatic affect, but it felt cheap.
But, the author does let you know whose POV you're in by placing their name at the top of the section, so that's awesomely helpful.
Second, did you read the synopsis on Goodreads? That one right up there that says it's a mixture of Inkheart and The Matrix? Well, the author is also going to tell you that this world is a lot like The Matrix. A LOT. Let's prove my point with a few excerpts.
Some loopy Matrix meets Inkheart-with-a-vengeance crap like that.
"It's not like Morpheus is going to show up and give you a choice between red and blue."
This was a nightmare, like Neo at the mirror, after he'd swallowed the red pill. Stop, I want the blue pill, she thought, crazily as she kept pushing.
"This isn't The Matrix. I'm not Neo."
That's only some of them. There's more. I understand that the author is a huge film buff, but this sort of allusion doesn't add to the world building, it detracts from it. She's got an awesome world here, it stands on its own. It comes off as weak writing, like she's using the mentions as a crutch, instead of a reference.
Speaking of weak writing, if the phrase "You nut" does not have a purpose in the next book, I'm going to be pissed. According to my Kindle, it occurs THIRTEEN times. Emma's always saying it to herself, and I sort of hate it. Immensely.
A few other things I'm hoping get cleared up, and please note the following is mildly spoilery, so in this book that means MAJOR spoilers.
Regardless, this book is extremely ambitious and handles it all very well. I wish I could say more, but I can't spoil it. This book is all about the surprises and the payoff.
I recommend this book, but I understand that this book is not for everyone. If you don't appreciate trying to find out what a world is all about, you won't like this book. If you can't wait for a payoff, you won't like this book. If you hate being confused for a majority of the book, you won't like this book.
But if you like mystery and horror, then this is an awesome book.
But I'm not kidding when I say my face looked like this the entire way through.
This is probably the hardest book review I've written in...ever. I loved the book, but there are some parts I don't like about it. I will tag all of my major spoilers, so no worries.
I've also never been one of the first book reviews for something, so I feel like pressure is on. So, if you can deal with me, this will be a rather tangled mess of a review because the book was a rather tangled mess. In a very good way.
I'm flopping between a 4 star rating and a 4.5 star rating. But then sometimes I go to 3.5 because I can't make up my mind.
So White Space is a trippy novel. You follow many characters, but Emma's our main one. Emma suffers from what she calls "blinks." These blinks means she zones out, anytime, anywhere, and imagines a different person's life. Lately, during her blinks, she's following Lizzie McDermott, the daughter of Frank McDermott, a very famous author.
Well, Frank McDermott has been messing around in the Dark Passages. Which is not a good thing. Essentially, his writing is just pulling things from the Dark Passages onto White Space, a space where characters and creatures from the Dark Passages can sort of live. He uses the Dark Passages to travel to different Nows to find different stories. Nows are essentially alternate universes.
Following me so far?
So Frank McDermott has been traveling way too much in the Dark Passages and gets addicted to it, essentially. So he fucks up. Big time.
But Emma is still traveling up a mountain during that blink. A mountain which actually ought not to be there. In this mountain she meets up with our other characters, Rima, Casey, Eric, Tony, Bode, and Chad. (I might be forgetting someone)
All together they decide something's not quite right with this mountain, the storm, and definitely the fog. And decide to investigate and find a way to get the fuck away from the creepy mountain/storm/definitely creepy ass fog.
Then some creepy, Kingdom Hearts Heartless type things come around and things go to hell.
You with me so far? That's the basic premise, but needless to say it gets a lot more awesomer.
In short, I loved this book. However, and note this big however, it will not be for everyone. So let's start out by doing a quick little survey.
Do you mind frequent POV switches?
Do you mind being tossed into a world with little to no explanation at first?
Do you mind gore?
Do you mind waiting a very long time for a very good payoff?
Do you mind being confused a majority of 500 some-odd pages?
Did you answer no to all the above questions? CONGRATS! Go read this fucking book. Because it's seriously good.
I know a lot of the questions all seem like detriments, and for a very long time in the book, some of them are. In fact, I would say that yes, multiple POVs bother me, and I dislike being asked to swim in the middle of an ocean without a life boat nearby, which is what this book does with world building.
But everything is so fascinating! The entire time I was reading it I was like
Creepy ass Heartless (They aren't really Heartless, but I can't imagine them otherwise) pop up and rip someone's skin around their eyes off so you're just left with sockets and it's gross and awesome.
The entire time you're trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. Who are these people? Why did they all meet on the mountain? Some of them have special abilities, like Rima's able to sense death and see crows that mean someone's about to die.
And you know something's wrong, obviously. The mountain and fog are hiding something from them, pushing them towards something. When they get there, when Emma actually gets to the place the fog is pushing her, it is a barn that's really only half formed.
But once the world building starts, once you start getting answers, it's like everything starts to come together in this beautiful mosaic of awesome and convoluted-ness and questioning what reality is. There's a lot of philosophical sophism here and what defines reality and people and yeah.
Lizzie is my favorite character. She's strong for her age and does a remarkable thing of keeping it hidden. She sees the destruction in her father and proactively decides she needs to learn to defend herself against it.
I actually like Rima second best, but that may just be because of all her abilities and again, the strength to push on for friends.
But that's all I can say for the characters. This was a plot driven by characters but mostly by the world building. The world was this constantly changing mess that propelled the characters on this path.
I'm really upset that I can't say more without spoiling the entire book.
This book exists solely for the payoff at the end. If you can't bear through the first seventy percent of the book, swimming in the deep ocean, then this may not be the book for you. But I promise, the payoff is awesome.
I even guessed some of the ending and it was still enough to keep me flipping through pages at work at risk of being caught and fired.
The writing was very solid, and the author did not skimp on the gore. She talked about red fleshy meat while cutting someone's throat and black tendrils eating someone from the inside and burning them alive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And now let's discuss my nitpickiness. As some of you may know, I'm an asshole reader. What I mean by this is that it does not take a lot to turn me off something. I've put books down before because of one cheesy sentence.
Obviously, I nitpick. But here are some of the larger problems I found.
First, did I mention the POV thing? Because it switches rapidly. Some chracters only get four paragraphs and then we're jumping. Other times, the POV is going to switch mid-sentence. I know it's done for dramatic affect, but it felt cheap.
But, the author does let you know whose POV you're in by placing their name at the top of the section, so that's awesomely helpful.
Second, did you read the synopsis on Goodreads? That one right up there that says it's a mixture of Inkheart and The Matrix? Well, the author is also going to tell you that this world is a lot like The Matrix. A LOT. Let's prove my point with a few excerpts.
Some loopy Matrix meets Inkheart-with-a-vengeance crap like that.
"It's not like Morpheus is going to show up and give you a choice between red and blue."
This was a nightmare, like Neo at the mirror, after he'd swallowed the red pill. Stop, I want the blue pill, she thought, crazily as she kept pushing.
"This isn't The Matrix. I'm not Neo."
That's only some of them. There's more. I understand that the author is a huge film buff, but this sort of allusion doesn't add to the world building, it detracts from it. She's got an awesome world here, it stands on its own. It comes off as weak writing, like she's using the mentions as a crutch, instead of a reference.
Speaking of weak writing, if the phrase "You nut" does not have a purpose in the next book, I'm going to be pissed. According to my Kindle, it occurs THIRTEEN times. Emma's always saying it to herself, and I sort of hate it. Immensely.
A few other things I'm hoping get cleared up, and please note the following is mildly spoilery, so in this book that means MAJOR spoilers.
Regardless, this book is extremely ambitious and handles it all very well. I wish I could say more, but I can't spoil it. This book is all about the surprises and the payoff.
I recommend this book, but I understand that this book is not for everyone. If you don't appreciate trying to find out what a world is all about, you won't like this book. If you can't wait for a payoff, you won't like this book. If you hate being confused for a majority of the book, you won't like this book.
But if you like mystery and horror, then this is an awesome book.
But I'm not kidding when I say my face looked like this the entire way through.
March 1, 2014
I tried. I really did. But, sometimes you come to a point when you realize you aren't reading a book for the fun of it anymore. I despise any DNF but this book is so damn long I cannot drag myself through any longer.
I have a few reasons for flouncing and since I did manage to get 45% in, I'll mention them. First off, the fact that the reader is dumped straight away in a world with way way wayyyyyyy too many made up words/objects.
Imagine for a moment if I said to you:
"I'm going to put my badonkadonk into my confuggle and then take the scnogoggle to the farfugizap."
Translation is:
A) Andrea is channeling Dr. Seuss.
B) Andrea has lost her damn mind.
C) Both A and B
or
D)Welcome to the world of White Space.
The correct answer is D.If you said B you are also partially correct.
Second flouncing reason is way too many POVs. You need a small notepad next to you while reading to keep track of all the individuals. Many of whom die or simply aren't all that important to have their own chapters. I can do multiple POVs, when they are done in a sensible way.
Add to this the chapter flow. Most POVs/chapters are.
Written like this. So that, it feels like.
That kids game telephone where one person.
Finishes the sentence of the one.
Before them.
I graduated from elementary school eons ago and have no desire to play telephone anymore. I certainly don't need it in the books I read.
Made me batshit crazy.
Final reason for flouncing. The fucking Matrix referencing every five fucking minutes. I get it. This is comparable to the damn movie. Neo is fucking awesomesauce. Whoohoooo. Morpheus rocks. The (one of million) MC wishes she had the red pill not the blue one like what Neo got. Blah blah blah.
Well, I have a newsflash. Not everyone lurves The Matrix. Me included. Have I seen it? Yes. Was it my all time favorite movie of all fucking time? Um, nope. There are people in the reading world who don't give a rat's ass about the damn movie or Neo. So, don't reference it a thousand times. This is a book. Let it put on some figurative big girl panties and brave the world.
I am done. Fin.
2 Ninja-Bunnehs
(One star just because there were some good gory parts. Other than that it would have been 1.)
(ARC received from NetGalley for an honest review.)
I have a few reasons for flouncing and since I did manage to get 45% in, I'll mention them. First off, the fact that the reader is dumped straight away in a world with way way wayyyyyyy too many made up words/objects.
Imagine for a moment if I said to you:
"I'm going to put my badonkadonk into my confuggle and then take the scnogoggle to the farfugizap."
Translation is:
A) Andrea is channeling Dr. Seuss.
B) Andrea has lost her damn mind.
C) Both A and B
or
D)Welcome to the world of White Space.
The correct answer is D.
Second flouncing reason is way too many POVs. You need a small notepad next to you while reading to keep track of all the individuals. Many of whom die or simply aren't all that important to have their own chapters. I can do multiple POVs, when they are done in a sensible way.
Add to this the chapter flow. Most POVs/chapters are.
Written like this. So that, it feels like.
That kids game telephone where one person.
Finishes the sentence of the one.
Before them.
I graduated from elementary school eons ago and have no desire to play telephone anymore. I certainly don't need it in the books I read.
Made me batshit crazy.
Final reason for flouncing. The fucking Matrix referencing every five fucking minutes. I get it. This is comparable to the damn movie. Neo is fucking awesomesauce. Whoohoooo. Morpheus rocks. The (one of million) MC wishes she had the red pill not the blue one like what Neo got. Blah blah blah.
Well, I have a newsflash. Not everyone lurves The Matrix. Me included. Have I seen it? Yes. Was it my all time favorite movie of all fucking time? Um, nope. There are people in the reading world who don't give a rat's ass about the damn movie or Neo. So, don't reference it a thousand times. This is a book. Let it put on some figurative big girl panties and brave the world.
I am done. Fin.
2 Ninja-Bunnehs
(One star just because there were some good gory parts. Other than that it would have been 1.)
(ARC received from NetGalley for an honest review.)
November 2, 2013
See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads
**This is a pre-review. Proper review to come later**
3.5 stars
Thank you Egmont USA for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review.
I feel like I should point out that this book will have many many mixed ratings. I for one, have already seen a bucketload of DNFs and another handful of people who gave this 4-5 stars. White Space, is one of those books that start off really crappy and end so amazing you just need to sit down and stare into oblivion for a while.
What didn't work for me:
THE CHANGING OF POVS: We start off with Lizzie, a girl who has some really odd parents. Her family moved into the middle of nowhere after the incident in London. Basically, Lizzie's father can reach into a mirror and pull out characters and put them into his novels. After these really odd few chapters in Lizzie's POV, we change into Emma's. Emma has been having 'blinks' where her world fades out and she can see through the eye's of someone else, a someone like Lizzie. After a back and forth change between these two character's POV, it was pretty good. The entire book was written in third person which made the changing manageable. That's until we start gettting random POVs of characters, they're so random, we even had new POVs coming in at 50% in of the book. Not only were there more POVs than the number of fingers on my hand, but also they were short. Once I was actually getting into the story, the POV would switch and I would get completely agitated and detatched from the novel once more.
THE PACING: Another factor that contributed into why I was not a fan of this book was the pace of this novel. I see that people are going to DNF this novel, not only because of the changing and number of points of views however also because the pace is painful. It is not to say that I was bored out of my brains but I needed answers. I was so damn confused for majority of the novel it made me want to rip all the hairs out of my head. However, some people are going to love the feel of a heavy blanked draped over their heads. To be honest, I enjoyed the feeling too but after some time, I started to wonder what the point of this book was. Nevertheless, the end redeemed this book. In a way.
What did work for me:
BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE: The world Ilsa J. Bick creates is truly crazy madness. It's a lot to stomach however as the story goes on and changes--you get used to it. I love the concept and the way it was executed was close to perfection. Maybe a few more answers to entertain the readers, though. White Space is obviously a plot orientated book despite the quantity of points of views. Surprisingly, White Space is a thought-provoking read. You start to ponder the given facts of life more and more, the further we go into the book. Such as; what is reality? Are we actually just characters from a book?
This one is going to be loved and hated.
**This is a pre-review. Proper review to come later**
3.5 stars
Thank you Egmont USA for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review.
I feel like I should point out that this book will have many many mixed ratings. I for one, have already seen a bucketload of DNFs and another handful of people who gave this 4-5 stars. White Space, is one of those books that start off really crappy and end so amazing you just need to sit down and stare into oblivion for a while.
What didn't work for me:
THE CHANGING OF POVS: We start off with Lizzie, a girl who has some really odd parents. Her family moved into the middle of nowhere after the incident in London. Basically, Lizzie's father can reach into a mirror and pull out characters and put them into his novels. After these really odd few chapters in Lizzie's POV, we change into Emma's. Emma has been having 'blinks' where her world fades out and she can see through the eye's of someone else, a someone like Lizzie. After a back and forth change between these two character's POV, it was pretty good. The entire book was written in third person which made the changing manageable. That's until we start gettting random POVs of characters, they're so random, we even had new POVs coming in at 50% in of the book. Not only were there more POVs than the number of fingers on my hand, but also they were short. Once I was actually getting into the story, the POV would switch and I would get completely agitated and detatched from the novel once more.
THE PACING: Another factor that contributed into why I was not a fan of this book was the pace of this novel. I see that people are going to DNF this novel, not only because of the changing and number of points of views however also because the pace is painful. It is not to say that I was bored out of my brains but I needed answers. I was so damn confused for majority of the novel it made me want to rip all the hairs out of my head. However, some people are going to love the feel of a heavy blanked draped over their heads. To be honest, I enjoyed the feeling too but after some time, I started to wonder what the point of this book was. Nevertheless, the end redeemed this book. In a way.
What did work for me:
BASICALLY EVERYTHING ELSE: The world Ilsa J. Bick creates is truly crazy madness. It's a lot to stomach however as the story goes on and changes--you get used to it. I love the concept and the way it was executed was close to perfection. Maybe a few more answers to entertain the readers, though. White Space is obviously a plot orientated book despite the quantity of points of views. Surprisingly, White Space is a thought-provoking read. You start to ponder the given facts of life more and more, the further we go into the book. Such as; what is reality? Are we actually just characters from a book?
This one is going to be loved and hated.
February 2, 2014
White Space was terribly disappointing for me. It certainly didn't read like young adult fiction. The characters were the right age, but it was more like a super-complicated science fiction novel. I consider myself a fairly intelligent reader and I could barely follow the story. I found myself rereading pages, flipping back to reread whole chapters. There were so many different points of view, it made my head spin. New POVs were being introduced even in the last half of the book. The kicker? This book is almost 600 pages long!
This book is touted as being in the tradition of Memento and Inception. I had a huge problem swallowing all the main character's references to The Matrix. "Who do I think I am? Neo?" "Just like Keanu Reeves." There were at least 5 unnecessary allusions to The Matrix. I like that movie by the way. Apparently, so does the author. There were also mentions of Inkheart and Inception. Can you guess that this book is about alternate realities? What is real?
The first chapter hits the ground running into a world where panops, diddlyhumps, swoozels, arguses, & typhons exist. Words pop into being & you can't even guess at their meaning from the context of the sentence. There is no world building, no explaining. This chapter is from a precocious (smarter than her smart parents) five year old's point of view. Um, nope. The next chapter drops us into high school junior Emma's head. She blinks into other realities.
The story jumps all over the place and even when some of the characters meet, we still have no clue what's going on. It felt a lot like channel surfing the TV for hours. I know that the ending was supposed to blow my mind. I think maybe a hard core sci-fi lover might have thought it was clever. Maybe not. Part of the reason The Matrix and Inception were so cool was the amazing cinematography. After all those movie mentions, I think a more reasonable ending would've been that Emma is really a teenager who's watched The Matrix, Memento, & Inception so many times (and maybe partaken of mind altering drugs) that she thinks she's living out all those movies at once.
This book is touted as being in the tradition of Memento and Inception. I had a huge problem swallowing all the main character's references to The Matrix. "Who do I think I am? Neo?" "Just like Keanu Reeves." There were at least 5 unnecessary allusions to The Matrix. I like that movie by the way. Apparently, so does the author. There were also mentions of Inkheart and Inception. Can you guess that this book is about alternate realities? What is real?
The first chapter hits the ground running into a world where panops, diddlyhumps, swoozels, arguses, & typhons exist. Words pop into being & you can't even guess at their meaning from the context of the sentence. There is no world building, no explaining. This chapter is from a precocious (smarter than her smart parents) five year old's point of view. Um, nope. The next chapter drops us into high school junior Emma's head. She blinks into other realities.
The story jumps all over the place and even when some of the characters meet, we still have no clue what's going on. It felt a lot like channel surfing the TV for hours. I know that the ending was supposed to blow my mind. I think maybe a hard core sci-fi lover might have thought it was clever. Maybe not. Part of the reason The Matrix and Inception were so cool was the amazing cinematography. After all those movie mentions, I think a more reasonable ending would've been that Emma is really a teenager who's watched The Matrix, Memento, & Inception so many times (and maybe partaken of mind altering drugs) that she thinks she's living out all those movies at once.
Want to read
June 19, 2013The Matrix meets Inkheart? Oh. My. God. Yes.
September 2, 2013
Lizzie and the Mirror
arc received from EgmontUSA through Edelweiss
Trigger warnings for this book: cutting, suicide and gore.
There are so many amazing things about White Space, but what pulled me into it was the narration. When it starts it’s narrated by a little girl: with a little kid’s linguistic idiosyncrasies and… I really can’t explain why, but it makes everything a hundred times creepier.
So let’s start: there is a little girl, Lizzie, a mother who dabbled in some really dark stuff, and a father who is dabbling in some really dark stuff.
You see, when Lizzies father creates a story he doesn’t just come up with it, he reaches into a mirror and through scratches and gouges pulls out characters from the White Space and into his Now. And sometimes these characters don’t stay in the books. They come outside and hide in the house.
When the story starts one such character was doing just that:
“A footprint. On the wall. That’s when Mom feels someone watching, too.”
Lizzie’s mother creates her own characters out of blown glass, the Peculiars. Lizzie tried making one once but she set the temperature wrong and the glass melted into a monstrosity: the monster doll who is not very… nice.
“The inside of the monster-doll’s head is all gluey-ooky, the thoughts sticky as spiderwebs.”
This is all incredibly spooky; it’s like High Octane Coraline. There is also a cat, Marmalade, who indulges in a time-honoured cat tradition of being an asshole and doing this:
“Marmalade sometimes stares, not at birds or bright coins of sunlight but the space between, while his tail goes twitch-twitch. The cat sees something Lizzie doesn’t.”
From that we jump to Emma’s POV. Emma has a metal plate in her head and killer migraines which announce themselves with spidery cracks into reality and she gets to see Lizzie’s Now. She had also lived with a father-figure painter who pulled creatures from the White Space into his canvas.
The plot jumps from Lizzie to Emma and back again, then starts including a bunch of other POVs. Personally, I loved Lizzie’s side of the story, and felt that Emma’s side and all the other characters’, though compelling, dragged a bit. Lizzie’s story was so much creepier, perhaps because, as I said, she was a little kid and saw and described things in a peculiar way that just wormed itself in to the reader’s brain.
I’m not the type of reader who appreciates switching POV every chapter, it keeps me from getting attached to the story. Every time you really start getting into it, SWITCH!, you’re reading about someone else doing something else. All in all there were about 7 POVs, sometimes it cuts from one to another in the middle of a sentence. That’s cool for a movie script but for an actual book it’s just incredibly exasperating. I, personally, started to lose interest in several characters. I wished the book was only about Lizzie and her family (which would have been way more than enough!), and had to force myself not to skip ahead when the focus wasn’t on them.
But the plot is pretty good! And it brought up a bunch of questions regarding parallel universes, the nature of reality, and space, and time, and who we really are. And when most of the POV characters meet up on the mountain and realise the fog is hiding something… It’s worth reading!
I must admit, I was very frustrated throughout the book, as I said, the multiple POVs really do not work for me, but I was never, ever bored! And while being entertained was enough for me, it won’t be for everyone, you have to go for a really, really long time through lots of confusing questions and questions and questions to get some answers literally when you’ve gone through 88% of the book.
If anything this book may be too ambitious, it tried to do too much, too many characters, too many stories – to be fair, all of them intertwined, but there was too much going on.
But like I said: it was never boring. All in all, though, this would make a better movie than a book.
Read
July 7, 2025DNF at 12%
Maybe this is because I’m reading two YA books at one time, but I can’t tell you a thing that is going on in this book. I’m not even sure how old the two main characters we’ve seen at this point are. I’m leaving this to people with more patience.
Maybe this is because I’m reading two YA books at one time, but I can’t tell you a thing that is going on in this book. I’m not even sure how old the two main characters we’ve seen at this point are. I’m leaving this to people with more patience.
February 19, 2014
I copied and pasted the html from the blog post, so things probably won't look like they should. If you want to read this with proper formatting go to Ransom Reads
Major Selling Points:
Bookception
The whole conept of stories being parallel universes/people that may or may not really exist and the fact that authors pulled the characters and words from those different words onto white space was what really drew me to White Space. I wanted to find out how it worked, and the added mystery of "is what I'm reading real or are these characters in this book actually from another book" and you know what I mean. I hope.
Horror (that actually creeped me out)
The summary I read was really short and did not hint to any horror. So I was pleasantly surprised when characters started dying and creepy creatures/things appeared. And I became too scared to read this at night.
Swashbuckling:
And this is where it starts going downhill... There are many interwoven story lines in White Space. All heading toward a main point, and all decent I suppose, but it does get very confusing. Mainly because there's so much going on and it felt like I understood... well not much. This confusion and a lack of connection to the characters, combined with the length, had me dragging my feet through it.
Lingo:
The writing in this was actually decent, and I feel the voice is unique. It took a bit of adjusting on my part, but after a while I did start to enjoy it. Even highlighted some passages that stood out to me. One of the complaints I've seen about it is the chapters ending "mid sentence" (when in reality the final words were the beginning of the next chapter. It was... interesting)
Crew:
All of the characters (because it's too hard to talk about each individually)
I'm not going to write about the characters individually because a) I'm lazy and b) my feelings on each are fairly similar: I sort of liked them, but didn't connect. It felt like a back story of any kind was lacking in detail, were were just given the relevant frame of their lives and only saw their actions which fit in the plot. Each was distinct however, and I never mixed them up in my head which is good. And quite a few died which may not be so good.
Swoonability:
Romance is another thing in White Space I didn't particularly enjoy. The main couple was just plain annoying (to me) and though they didn't get together for a long time, when they did it meant time for a make out session at a time they could possibly die. Don't you just love that? The other couple actually looked like it was developing really nicely but then the ending happens and I don't know if it even has a chance anymore.
Ships:
Emma x Eric
Casey x Rima
Me x Knowing what the hell is going on
Major Selling Points:
Bookception
The whole conept of stories being parallel universes/people that may or may not really exist and the fact that authors pulled the characters and words from those different words onto white space was what really drew me to White Space. I wanted to find out how it worked, and the added mystery of "is what I'm reading real or are these characters in this book actually from another book" and you know what I mean. I hope.
Horror (that actually creeped me out)
The summary I read was really short and did not hint to any horror. So I was pleasantly surprised when characters started dying and creepy creatures/things appeared. And I became too scared to read this at night.
Swashbuckling:
And this is where it starts going downhill... There are many interwoven story lines in White Space. All heading toward a main point, and all decent I suppose, but it does get very confusing. Mainly because there's so much going on and it felt like I understood... well not much. This confusion and a lack of connection to the characters, combined with the length, had me dragging my feet through it.
Lingo:
The writing in this was actually decent, and I feel the voice is unique. It took a bit of adjusting on my part, but after a while I did start to enjoy it. Even highlighted some passages that stood out to me. One of the complaints I've seen about it is the chapters ending "mid sentence" (when in reality the final words were the beginning of the next chapter. It was... interesting)
Crew:
All of the characters (because it's too hard to talk about each individually)
I'm not going to write about the characters individually because a) I'm lazy and b) my feelings on each are fairly similar: I sort of liked them, but didn't connect. It felt like a back story of any kind was lacking in detail, were were just given the relevant frame of their lives and only saw their actions which fit in the plot. Each was distinct however, and I never mixed them up in my head which is good. And quite a few died which may not be so good.
Swoonability:
Romance is another thing in White Space I didn't particularly enjoy. The main couple was just plain annoying (to me) and though they didn't get together for a long time, when they did it meant time for a make out session at a time they could possibly die. Don't you just love that? The other couple actually looked like it was developing really nicely but then the ending happens and I don't know if it even has a chance anymore.
Ships:
Emma x Eric
Casey x Rima
Me x Knowing what the hell is going on
February 20, 2016
White Space is a book for those who often end on the weird sides of tumblr/you tube and stay there for an hour or two.
I don't know what it is about Ilsa J. Bick. I love her long ass books. Every time, she convinces me to pick up the +500 pager and not to set it aside until I'm done. Most of the time I'm confused because she loves her mind tricks. But that's one of her charms, I guess.
White Space isn't for anyone as you can tell by the general book rating here on GR. It's strange, gruesome, brutal, different, lengthy; Stephen King-ish material.
I don't know what it is about Ilsa J. Bick. I love her long ass books. Every time, she convinces me to pick up the +500 pager and not to set it aside until I'm done. Most of the time I'm confused because she loves her mind tricks. But that's one of her charms, I guess.
White Space isn't for anyone as you can tell by the general book rating here on GR. It's strange, gruesome, brutal, different, lengthy; Stephen King-ish material.
November 10, 2014
WHITE SPACE does not have a quick beginning. It opens with Lizzie, a precocious child, observing a conflict between her parents play out. This bit is filled with odd vocabulary and a strange magic, and just as soon as you think you've figured out the rules, a girl named Emma wakes up from her reverie about being Lizzie to recall how she came to be driving through the mountains. And so on, flashing though narrators and their stories and the way they come together.
WHITE SPACE is a disorienting experience. It keeps almost coming together into something nice and neat when Ilsa J. Bick throws another curveball in the story's rules. This wouldn't work for most books, but WHITE SPACE is a horror novel. The shifts in the text keep the readers as off balance as the characters. Plus, it is metafictional horror. The characters are, in many ways, threatened by potential monsters fueled by their own fears. The deceptive looseness of the structure makes the amorphous more frightening.
I was thrilled by WHITE SPACE. This is a disturbing book, full of imagery that gets beneath your skin, like a shirt wearing a person or crawling through tunnels (filled with things I'll leave to you to discover). It's a book that trusts the reader's intelligence, to remember the details and fit them together, to be able to readjust whenever there is a paradigm shift. It's also populated with strangely likeable characters for a horror novel.
I will say that WHITE SPACE goes on a touch too long. It's the beginning of a series, and stands fairly well on its own, although the ending chapters clearly lead-in to the next book. But there is a bit of fatigue before then, because this is one fat novel. I loved the rising tension of the opening, things ever so slightly not right. But once things go crazy, a few incidents could've been cut. At the same time, that's really my only complaint. This is a genuinely scary horror novel, which is something I appreciate.
WHITE SPACE is a disorienting experience. It keeps almost coming together into something nice and neat when Ilsa J. Bick throws another curveball in the story's rules. This wouldn't work for most books, but WHITE SPACE is a horror novel. The shifts in the text keep the readers as off balance as the characters. Plus, it is metafictional horror. The characters are, in many ways, threatened by potential monsters fueled by their own fears. The deceptive looseness of the structure makes the amorphous more frightening.
I was thrilled by WHITE SPACE. This is a disturbing book, full of imagery that gets beneath your skin, like a shirt wearing a person or crawling through tunnels (filled with things I'll leave to you to discover). It's a book that trusts the reader's intelligence, to remember the details and fit them together, to be able to readjust whenever there is a paradigm shift. It's also populated with strangely likeable characters for a horror novel.
I will say that WHITE SPACE goes on a touch too long. It's the beginning of a series, and stands fairly well on its own, although the ending chapters clearly lead-in to the next book. But there is a bit of fatigue before then, because this is one fat novel. I loved the rising tension of the opening, things ever so slightly not right. But once things go crazy, a few incidents could've been cut. At the same time, that's really my only complaint. This is a genuinely scary horror novel, which is something I appreciate.
September 27, 2018
This review was originally posted on The Moonlight Library
I quit this book at 14%.
I'll be honest: there's nothing particularly wrong with this book. So it's getting a DNF rather than the 1 star I usually leave for books I don't finish.
I just don't think I have the patience to sit through 560 pages of POV jumping when nothing has made me particularly interested or invested in any character up to the 14% where I'm quitting.
Although I do appreciate the fact that the worldbuilding has given me no infodumping. I suppose it could be somewhat confusing for other readers, and maybe it's my fantasy background, but I found everything mildly easy to follow. Nothing s really explained so you just kind of have to go with the flow.
I put off reading this book for a long time. One was all the negative feedback: you will either love or hate this novel. There is no in-between. The other was because it was so freaking huge. 560 pages.
I have other books I want to read. Sorry, White Space, part one of a trilogy. When I'd rather clean my house than pick you back up, you know there's an issue.
I quit this book at 14%.
I'll be honest: there's nothing particularly wrong with this book. So it's getting a DNF rather than the 1 star I usually leave for books I don't finish.
I just don't think I have the patience to sit through 560 pages of POV jumping when nothing has made me particularly interested or invested in any character up to the 14% where I'm quitting.
Although I do appreciate the fact that the worldbuilding has given me no infodumping. I suppose it could be somewhat confusing for other readers, and maybe it's my fantasy background, but I found everything mildly easy to follow. Nothing s really explained so you just kind of have to go with the flow.
I put off reading this book for a long time. One was all the negative feedback: you will either love or hate this novel. There is no in-between. The other was because it was so freaking huge. 560 pages.
I have other books I want to read. Sorry, White Space, part one of a trilogy. When I'd rather clean my house than pick you back up, you know there's an issue.
April 9, 2014
I'm not sure how to talk about this book because I'm not even sure what this book was. I know that it made way too many references to The Matrix and Inception. One or two references is fine, but this just made me feel like the author was trying to hit me over the head with a "Hey, my book is like these movies! Don't you dare forget it." I know that this book creeped me out, and I know that the twist was cool.
The problem is that the first 300 pages make no sense. It leaves you completely in the dark, and gives no hints as to what is actually going on. (And trust me--hints are needed.) I spent those 300 pages like this:
And then the explanation comes. Kind of. Except that it still didn't make that much more sense. I had long ago stopped trying to understand it, anyway. I have such mixed feelings about the whole thing. It's compelling, in a weird, disturbing way. The characters aren't that interesting, but I still wanted to keep reading, for the most part. It was certainly well-written.
Overall, this is a compelling, strange, creepy book that doesn't even try to make sense until after page 300. I didn't hate it, but I'm disappointed, and I probably won't bother with the sequel.
Similar Books: It has creepy, weird, disjointed alternate realities like The Marbury Lens and My Favorite Band Does Not Exist. It also reminds me of More Than This and The Obsidian Blade.
Read more of my reviews at http://anniesepicblog.blogspot.com.
The problem is that the first 300 pages make no sense. It leaves you completely in the dark, and gives no hints as to what is actually going on. (And trust me--hints are needed.) I spent those 300 pages like this:
And then the explanation comes. Kind of. Except that it still didn't make that much more sense. I had long ago stopped trying to understand it, anyway. I have such mixed feelings about the whole thing. It's compelling, in a weird, disturbing way. The characters aren't that interesting, but I still wanted to keep reading, for the most part. It was certainly well-written.
Overall, this is a compelling, strange, creepy book that doesn't even try to make sense until after page 300. I didn't hate it, but I'm disappointed, and I probably won't bother with the sequel.
Similar Books: It has creepy, weird, disjointed alternate realities like The Marbury Lens and My Favorite Band Does Not Exist. It also reminds me of More Than This and The Obsidian Blade.
Read more of my reviews at http://anniesepicblog.blogspot.com.
February 20, 2014
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!
All the negative and DNF reviews intrigued me to be honest, and I really wanted to give White Space a good, hot go. Now that I’ve finished the book, I’m not sure whether to be disappointed that I ended up reading it or glad that I read such a unique book. Most of all, I feel confused and frustrated.
White Space is a combination of a psychological thriller, a gory horror, and a physics based mystery about multiverses in storybooks. It’s told through multiple point of views from different characters in a dead writer’s books. Finding out who they are and their place in the story is part of the mystery, making it a disjointed, confusing read. What you’re told is constantly coasting between fact, fiction, or something else entirely. Chapters will end abruptly, continued by the next person’s point of view. I can see how this could have confused, frustrated and annoyed people, but I managed to follow the book until the halfway mark, when it all goes downhill from there.
Filled with physics based explanations, story book realities and discussions of the Dark Passages, Dickson’s Mirror and the Fog, at this point of the book I just wanted some answers. Rarely are we given straight explanations about what is happening, with us having to rely on what we are told is real through the different characters’ experiences, and what we think is real. The book blurb gives more clarity for what is happening than the book itself ever does. I was frustrated at the ending, which seemed to be completely deviant from the bulk of the plot itself and felt like a cop out.
Emma was the book’s shining character, she’s been in and out of psychological wards as she blinks herself into existence. She’s got Alice in Wonderland syndrome, where she perceives different images of herself and finds herself in completely different lives. Her only common denominator is Kramer, who always has a position of authority over her, and Jasper, her father. Emma is a link between the story book characters, and Lizzie, the daughter of the writer and creator of the stories, and the latter of half of the book converges their storylines together.
There were some truly creative ways of describing the gore and horror, which Ilsa J Bick seems to excel at:
Whenever she coughed, he kept expecting bloody hunks of gnawed lung or liver or intestine to come flying out of her mouth.
When he gave another moist, ripping cough, the spray that spattered the snow reminded him of those red sprinkles they put on cupcakes.
While certainly a creative direction to take a book, I think we would have benefited from a lot more answers and less vagueness when it came to the explanations. In order to be emotionally invested, we had to get to know the characters and who they truly were, which was a major barrier for my enjoyment here.
White Space wasn’t a bad read by any means, it was just a vague and confusing story that alludes to alternate realities and a blur between fact and fiction. It’s definitely a creative, unique book that reminded me very much of Sucker Punch, except with a lot less action and scantily clad women.
I received a review copy from Egmont USA in exchange for an honest review.
All the negative and DNF reviews intrigued me to be honest, and I really wanted to give White Space a good, hot go. Now that I’ve finished the book, I’m not sure whether to be disappointed that I ended up reading it or glad that I read such a unique book. Most of all, I feel confused and frustrated.
White Space is a combination of a psychological thriller, a gory horror, and a physics based mystery about multiverses in storybooks. It’s told through multiple point of views from different characters in a dead writer’s books. Finding out who they are and their place in the story is part of the mystery, making it a disjointed, confusing read. What you’re told is constantly coasting between fact, fiction, or something else entirely. Chapters will end abruptly, continued by the next person’s point of view. I can see how this could have confused, frustrated and annoyed people, but I managed to follow the book until the halfway mark, when it all goes downhill from there.
Filled with physics based explanations, story book realities and discussions of the Dark Passages, Dickson’s Mirror and the Fog, at this point of the book I just wanted some answers. Rarely are we given straight explanations about what is happening, with us having to rely on what we are told is real through the different characters’ experiences, and what we think is real. The book blurb gives more clarity for what is happening than the book itself ever does. I was frustrated at the ending, which seemed to be completely deviant from the bulk of the plot itself and felt like a cop out.
Emma was the book’s shining character, she’s been in and out of psychological wards as she blinks herself into existence. She’s got Alice in Wonderland syndrome, where she perceives different images of herself and finds herself in completely different lives. Her only common denominator is Kramer, who always has a position of authority over her, and Jasper, her father. Emma is a link between the story book characters, and Lizzie, the daughter of the writer and creator of the stories, and the latter of half of the book converges their storylines together.
There were some truly creative ways of describing the gore and horror, which Ilsa J Bick seems to excel at:
Whenever she coughed, he kept expecting bloody hunks of gnawed lung or liver or intestine to come flying out of her mouth.
When he gave another moist, ripping cough, the spray that spattered the snow reminded him of those red sprinkles they put on cupcakes.
While certainly a creative direction to take a book, I think we would have benefited from a lot more answers and less vagueness when it came to the explanations. In order to be emotionally invested, we had to get to know the characters and who they truly were, which was a major barrier for my enjoyment here.
White Space wasn’t a bad read by any means, it was just a vague and confusing story that alludes to alternate realities and a blur between fact and fiction. It’s definitely a creative, unique book that reminded me very much of Sucker Punch, except with a lot less action and scantily clad women.
I received a review copy from Egmont USA in exchange for an honest review.
to-read-arc-or-galley
August 5, 2014This book has so many divisive ratings I need to bump it up to read for myself (and I still have the Ashes Trilogy to get through too).
Man, this is going to be a busy reading year. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this, though.
Man, this is going to be a busy reading year. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with this, though.
May 27, 2015
I don't even know how to begin to describe this book. My thoughts both come up blank and, are all over the place.
I found that while reading this book, some of it was really predictable. What really drew me in though, was the first page, in all its creepy glory. That drew me in right away. After that though, the book was really hard to get into and fell flat. I read on though and learned that there were multiple point of views.
I am so glad that there were so many point of views because, through Emma’s POV I actually remembered that I was reading it. I always felt like I was an outsider when reading it. Very rarely, did I ever feel like I was zeroed in on the characters. The book itself kind of feels like a psychological book; it was very confusing.
What I thought was the ending, would’ve been a great ending. But what I thought was the ending, was not, so the story dragged on even more.
If I do decide to read the second book, I will be getting it through a library. AND, if I do decide to read further into this story it will only be for Eric and Casey’s story.
If you decide to pick up this book, let me tell you one thing for you to remember while reading it:
Everything is not as it seems to be.
That being said, I really did not like White Space. This is the first book that Ive read by Isla J Bick, and I honestly dont know if I would ever read any of their books. I dont like Isla’s writing style, and how she wrote out White Space. White Space is one of the novels that I hated so much, I had to finish it.
I am so glad that there were so many point of views because, through Emma’s POV I actually remembered that I was reading it. I always felt like I was an outsider when reading it. Very rarely, did I ever feel like I was zeroed in on the characters. The book itself kind of feels like a psychological book; it was very confusing.
What I thought was the ending, would’ve been a great ending. But what I thought was the ending, was not, so the story dragged on even more.
If I do decide to read the second book, I will be getting it through a library. AND, if I do decide to read further into this story it will only be for Eric and Casey’s story.
If you decide to pick up this book, let me tell you one thing for you to remember while reading it:
Everything is not as it seems to be.
That being said, I really did not like White Space. This is the first book that Ive read by Isla J Bick, and I honestly dont know if I would ever read any of their books. I dont like Isla’s writing style, and how she wrote out White Space. White Space is one of the novels that I hated so much, I had to finish it.
December 31, 2018
There are few novels to which this is comparable. It is an incredible work of fiction stepping into the realms of horror, fantasy, science-fiction and yet beyond them all. My only confusion is why this was never a runaway bestseller. If not for the ages of the characters, this should be labeled as a book aimed at all audiences; narrowing this to a YA audience was a grave injustice.
I cannot begin to explain the plot because it is far too complex and rich to do so in the small space provided for a review, but I will say that if you enjoy reading surrealist fiction, simulated realities, alternate universes and dimensions, and existentialist questions about the nature of life itself, you should give White Space a chance. It will thrill and shock you. The quality of the writing is top-notch.
I cannot begin to explain the plot because it is far too complex and rich to do so in the small space provided for a review, but I will say that if you enjoy reading surrealist fiction, simulated realities, alternate universes and dimensions, and existentialist questions about the nature of life itself, you should give White Space a chance. It will thrill and shock you. The quality of the writing is top-notch.
Want to read
August 5, 2013This comes out on my birthday next year WOOT WOOT!! :p
And look at the motherfucking cover! my brain is experiencing multiple orgasms right now. I LOVE IT!!!!!
The synopsis also sounds amazing!! can't wait :D
And look at the motherfucking cover! my brain is experiencing multiple orgasms right now. I LOVE IT!!!!!
The synopsis also sounds amazing!! can't wait :D
March 26, 2016
I didn't hate it but I didn't like it that much either. I've been confused from the beginning and I don't think I have any clue still.
Read
February 18, 20142/17/14: DNF. 46%
Sadly, I just don't want to waste any more time reading this. I don't mind that it's strange, but I truly don't understand this world of Dark Passages and Peculiars and the Sign of the Sure, etc. 46% in and it's still freakin'confusing.
***********************************************************
Buddy Read with Glass.
2/6/14: I've been sitting on this ARC for practically a year now and I need to get to it already, but I'm not liking the high number of DNFs. Hopefully I can get through it. I sometimes like the weird and unusual shiz. lol
Sadly, I just don't want to waste any more time reading this. I don't mind that it's strange, but I truly don't understand this world of Dark Passages and Peculiars and the Sign of the Sure, etc. 46% in and it's still freakin'confusing.
***********************************************************
Buddy Read with Glass.
2/6/14: I've been sitting on this ARC for practically a year now and I need to get to it already, but I'm not liking the high number of DNFs. Hopefully I can get through it. I sometimes like the weird and unusual shiz. lol
Read
January 23, 2014Why Did I DNF?
I loved that itty bitty summary; so much potential in those few words. I was eager to request and download this electronic arc and began reading last week. I'd heard some less than stellar things but went into it hoping for the best. I was immediately confused by Bick's writing style and tried desperately to pick up what was going on in the first chapters.
I began to get a feel for the story and was enamored with the horror aspects. But the more I read the more I had trouble really absorbing the words. The structure of the writing is not one I'm familiar with and felt, to be honest, like a very large run on sentence. It was giving me a headache trying to follow the story as well as keep up with the world building.
I think that, perhaps, if I were reading a physical copy of the book I'd better digest what I was reading. Reading this digitally was just not working for me so I decided that I'd call it a DNF and try again (maybe) later.
From the very small amount I read I can say that the descriptions were graphic and I loved the little bits of horror sprinkled in. I believe that the storyline would be interesting if I could get absorbed enough into the writing.
I loved that itty bitty summary; so much potential in those few words. I was eager to request and download this electronic arc and began reading last week. I'd heard some less than stellar things but went into it hoping for the best. I was immediately confused by Bick's writing style and tried desperately to pick up what was going on in the first chapters.
I began to get a feel for the story and was enamored with the horror aspects. But the more I read the more I had trouble really absorbing the words. The structure of the writing is not one I'm familiar with and felt, to be honest, like a very large run on sentence. It was giving me a headache trying to follow the story as well as keep up with the world building.
I think that, perhaps, if I were reading a physical copy of the book I'd better digest what I was reading. Reading this digitally was just not working for me so I decided that I'd call it a DNF and try again (maybe) later.
From the very small amount I read I can say that the descriptions were graphic and I loved the little bits of horror sprinkled in. I believe that the storyline would be interesting if I could get absorbed enough into the writing.
Read
February 18, 2014DNF. Noone warned me it would be so scary.
I am a pansy.
I am a pansy.
dnf
February 22, 2014DNF 10%
Not for me...
Not for me...
April 25, 2020
DNF 50%
I hate DNF-ing this book so much because Ilsa J Bick wrote one of my favourite trilogies of all time which is the Monsters trilogy.
I think the writing in this book is really good and there's nothing wrong with it. It's the plot of the story in this one that I just couldn't handle. It's definitely a lot more in the sci-fi horror genre than plain sci-fi, and there were some really terrifying moments in this with a bit of added gore.
The concept of this book is just so confusing and even after reading halfway through the book, I wouldn't know how to start explaining what is going on. It seems to be a little bit of a mix between The Matrix and Inkheart but even that is far too simplified. Things were only starting to be explained where I left off but it wasn't enough for me to keep going. I was really disconnected with the story and everything going on was way too much of a mind f**k for me, particularly in the current climate.
There are some people who like particular types of horror who would really love this. This is definitely the type of book where you get it or you just don't. Unfortunately, I was the latter.
I hate DNF-ing this book so much because Ilsa J Bick wrote one of my favourite trilogies of all time which is the Monsters trilogy.
I think the writing in this book is really good and there's nothing wrong with it. It's the plot of the story in this one that I just couldn't handle. It's definitely a lot more in the sci-fi horror genre than plain sci-fi, and there were some really terrifying moments in this with a bit of added gore.
The concept of this book is just so confusing and even after reading halfway through the book, I wouldn't know how to start explaining what is going on. It seems to be a little bit of a mix between The Matrix and Inkheart but even that is far too simplified. Things were only starting to be explained where I left off but it wasn't enough for me to keep going. I was really disconnected with the story and everything going on was way too much of a mind f**k for me, particularly in the current climate.
There are some people who like particular types of horror who would really love this. This is definitely the type of book where you get it or you just don't. Unfortunately, I was the latter.
January 27, 2015
White Space (Dark Passages #1) by Ilsa J. Bick is easily going to be one of the best fantasy/horror novels I will read all year and the year has just begun!
Teenage Emma Lindsay has metal plates in her head, no parents and an eccentric catatonic artist for a guardian. But those are Emma's regular problems, her stranger problems come when she blinks away and drops into other lives and other times. Other lives that have Emma wondering which is real and which is not.
The Emma writes a story called White Space about a group of kids stranded in a haunted house during a blizzard. A story that mirrors an unfinished work by a long dead writer known as Frank McDermott.
"...I don't care Frank. Mom shivers as if she just can't get rid of the really bad dream clinging to her brain, but keeps seeing it happen again and again, no matter where she looks. Do what you have to, but kill them. Kill the book.
What do you think you just did, Meredith? You can destroy the manuscript or my notes, but it's still there. Dad presses a fist to his chest. The book's inside. You'd have to kill me..."
Frank McDermott's story is about characters who fall out of different books and jump off the page, much as it seems happens to Emma when she blinks. And now, stranded in a blizzard with a group of young strangers, she is wondering if she is doing exactly what Frank McDermott wrote. If her reality has somehow become the story.
"...Frozen in place, she watches the red slink as it seeps across the road, never spreading, never veering, but creeping up the curb and onto the sidewalk, heading straight for the book. As soon as her blood touches the cover, dragging itself like a moist crimson tongue along the edges, curls of steam rise-and the book...quickens.
It's like my blink, when I saw Lizzie's dad-Frank McDermott-at the Dickens Mirror. Except it is a book, not a strange mirror, drinking her blood, greedily sucking and feeding, the pages pulsing and swelling, the covers bulging...and then..."
Emma, along with Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie must survive the story that is being written around them. A story more real then the world they live in. Their reality is found not in the written words, but in the white space in between them.
White Space is imaginative and brilliant. Ilsa J. Bick has come up with a grandiose concept and plotted and scored it well. Characters from various books who end up in one tale, unsure of what their reality is and convinced that they are real people. But the question that truly rise is which reality is true and will they live long enough to find it.
Bick often refers to a 2002-2003 movie called Identity with John Cusack and Ray Liotta. The story is about a group of people who end up at a road side hotel ala Bates Motel and begin to be murdered. There is a killer among them but what they don't realize is that they are in fact different pieces of one man's personality with one trying to become the dominant personality by killing the other's off. Pick it up, it is freaking awesome.
White Space is very much like that. The lines between what is real and what is not are blurred and bleed freely into one another. In less gifted hands this story would drown in the mire of its own confusion. But Black is too good of a writer to allow that to happen. In her hands it is entertaining and suspenseful. She engages her readers and knows full well that when you write a novel of this size it is a commitment from both the writer and the reader and Ilsa J. Bick holds up her side of the bargain.
White Space is the first novel by Bick I have ever read but I will freely admit I was already impressed by this author. I met her last year at the Tucson Book Festival, she was signing her books and greeting her readers, most of them young adult readers; all with her arm in a cast and sling. But she was there. In the Arizona heat, taking time to care for her readers.
White Space by Ilsa J Bick is a terrific read!
Teenage Emma Lindsay has metal plates in her head, no parents and an eccentric catatonic artist for a guardian. But those are Emma's regular problems, her stranger problems come when she blinks away and drops into other lives and other times. Other lives that have Emma wondering which is real and which is not.
The Emma writes a story called White Space about a group of kids stranded in a haunted house during a blizzard. A story that mirrors an unfinished work by a long dead writer known as Frank McDermott.
"...I don't care Frank. Mom shivers as if she just can't get rid of the really bad dream clinging to her brain, but keeps seeing it happen again and again, no matter where she looks. Do what you have to, but kill them. Kill the book.
What do you think you just did, Meredith? You can destroy the manuscript or my notes, but it's still there. Dad presses a fist to his chest. The book's inside. You'd have to kill me..."
Frank McDermott's story is about characters who fall out of different books and jump off the page, much as it seems happens to Emma when she blinks. And now, stranded in a blizzard with a group of young strangers, she is wondering if she is doing exactly what Frank McDermott wrote. If her reality has somehow become the story.
"...Frozen in place, she watches the red slink as it seeps across the road, never spreading, never veering, but creeping up the curb and onto the sidewalk, heading straight for the book. As soon as her blood touches the cover, dragging itself like a moist crimson tongue along the edges, curls of steam rise-and the book...quickens.
It's like my blink, when I saw Lizzie's dad-Frank McDermott-at the Dickens Mirror. Except it is a book, not a strange mirror, drinking her blood, greedily sucking and feeding, the pages pulsing and swelling, the covers bulging...and then..."
Emma, along with Eric, Casey, Bode, Rima, and a very special little girl, Lizzie must survive the story that is being written around them. A story more real then the world they live in. Their reality is found not in the written words, but in the white space in between them.
White Space is imaginative and brilliant. Ilsa J. Bick has come up with a grandiose concept and plotted and scored it well. Characters from various books who end up in one tale, unsure of what their reality is and convinced that they are real people. But the question that truly rise is which reality is true and will they live long enough to find it.
Bick often refers to a 2002-2003 movie called Identity with John Cusack and Ray Liotta. The story is about a group of people who end up at a road side hotel ala Bates Motel and begin to be murdered. There is a killer among them but what they don't realize is that they are in fact different pieces of one man's personality with one trying to become the dominant personality by killing the other's off. Pick it up, it is freaking awesome.
White Space is very much like that. The lines between what is real and what is not are blurred and bleed freely into one another. In less gifted hands this story would drown in the mire of its own confusion. But Black is too good of a writer to allow that to happen. In her hands it is entertaining and suspenseful. She engages her readers and knows full well that when you write a novel of this size it is a commitment from both the writer and the reader and Ilsa J. Bick holds up her side of the bargain.
White Space is the first novel by Bick I have ever read but I will freely admit I was already impressed by this author. I met her last year at the Tucson Book Festival, she was signing her books and greeting her readers, most of them young adult readers; all with her arm in a cast and sling. But she was there. In the Arizona heat, taking time to care for her readers.
White Space by Ilsa J Bick is a terrific read!
January 6, 2015
Several of my students read this book before I did and when I asked them what they thought, all of them said the same thing, “It was confusing” (See below for one 12th grade student's take on it). I decided to read the book to see if my superior intellect and extensive education would allow me to better understand it. After powering through 550 pages, I came to the same conclusion as they did. It was confusing.
There’s a lot of shifting going on this novel – shifts in time and place, shifts from dream to reality, shifts from fiction to real life. There are a lot of characters and the novel jumps from one to the next without any transition or indication of how they are connected. Also, the supernatural elements of the story are mentioned frequently but not explained until the middle of the book when a giant info dump occurs. Not that everything needs to be explained on page 1, but this reader needed to feel more clued in. The Peculiars, the White Space, the Dark Passages, the Dickens Mirror…what does it all mean?!
Though the book has some standard horror novel tropes, it fails to deliver any real scares or thrills. As a true scaredy cat who won’t watch horror movies and rarely reads horror novels, I thought I would have to leave my nightlight on and avoid my dark and drafty basement until I was finished reading. On the contrary, I wasn’t terrified, scared, or even mildly spooked. There were some gross out gory moments but that was about it. One of the author’s methods for creating suspense was to abruptly end chapters with a cliffhanger. The stylistic choice to end a chapter in the middle of a sentence
felt very gimmicky and did not have the intended impact of making me want to keep reading. At 550 pages, this book requires a time investment on the part of the reader. The fact that there is no satisfactory conclusion is disappointing. While there are a lot of interesting ideas here, none of them really get fleshed out in a satisfying way. Recommended as an optional purchase where this author has a loyal following.
Student Review (12th grader)
Grade Range: 9-12
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Recommendation: Ok- The book will be okay for some people, but not a lot.
Literary Merit: Written well, but confusing.
Characterization: Characterized well, but in a confusing manner
White Space
White Space is a novel with a great idea for a story but is very confusing. There is little to no background knowledge of the family and their life at the beginning of the story. It starts out with the main character remembering a scene of a creepy lady hiding in the corner. Then it goes on to talk about how the main character has a notebook that creates things from imaginary ideas by them being written in it. The characters are not tied up at the end which is probably the result of the book being a part of a series. I think if you want to get into a series and follow through, read this book.
There’s a lot of shifting going on this novel – shifts in time and place, shifts from dream to reality, shifts from fiction to real life. There are a lot of characters and the novel jumps from one to the next without any transition or indication of how they are connected. Also, the supernatural elements of the story are mentioned frequently but not explained until the middle of the book when a giant info dump occurs. Not that everything needs to be explained on page 1, but this reader needed to feel more clued in. The Peculiars, the White Space, the Dark Passages, the Dickens Mirror…what does it all mean?!
Though the book has some standard horror novel tropes, it fails to deliver any real scares or thrills. As a true scaredy cat who won’t watch horror movies and rarely reads horror novels, I thought I would have to leave my nightlight on and avoid my dark and drafty basement until I was finished reading. On the contrary, I wasn’t terrified, scared, or even mildly spooked. There were some gross out gory moments but that was about it. One of the author’s methods for creating suspense was to abruptly end chapters with a cliffhanger. The stylistic choice to end a chapter in the middle of a sentence
felt very gimmicky and did not have the intended impact of making me want to keep reading. At 550 pages, this book requires a time investment on the part of the reader. The fact that there is no satisfactory conclusion is disappointing. While there are a lot of interesting ideas here, none of them really get fleshed out in a satisfying way. Recommended as an optional purchase where this author has a loyal following.
Student Review (12th grader)
Grade Range: 9-12
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Recommendation: Ok- The book will be okay for some people, but not a lot.
Literary Merit: Written well, but confusing.
Characterization: Characterized well, but in a confusing manner
White Space
White Space is a novel with a great idea for a story but is very confusing. There is little to no background knowledge of the family and their life at the beginning of the story. It starts out with the main character remembering a scene of a creepy lady hiding in the corner. Then it goes on to talk about how the main character has a notebook that creates things from imaginary ideas by them being written in it. The characters are not tied up at the end which is probably the result of the book being a part of a series. I think if you want to get into a series and follow through, read this book.
April 2, 2015
Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭ (5 stars)
White Space is beautifully written, has a cast of characters I am in love with (specifically my darling Casey), and seriously messes with your head. But a lot of people will tell you it’s confusing. Which it is. But not enough that, at least for me, I couldn’t figure out what was happening. Also, it helps add to the story, because ALL the characters are confused and have no idea what’s going on. But, I will admit, there were some things that happened and I was just like how the heck did they get from here to here? What just happened? If the book wasn’t so well-written, maybe this would’ve bugged me. But I adore her writing, so I think this definitely played apart in helping me overlook this book’s flaws. I don’t think anyone should stay away from White Space just because it’s confusing, however. Because it is a really, really great book and I don’t think it’s as popular as I think it should be. I agree that the confusing aspect doesn’t make this a book for everyone, but I still strongly suggest everyone at least try it. Just make sure you read slow if you’re worried about this so that you’re absorbing all the words. Like I said before, (multiple times), the writing is just amazing. I think it ‘s probably my favorite writing style that I’ve ever read. Ilsa J. Bick’s words just flow so smoothly, and her descriptions are so full and filled with rich vocabulary. She also does this thing where she ends a sentence without finishing the thought (usually at the end of the chapter) and completes the sentence in the next chapter, usually with a different character. I just LOVE this. I think it definitely shows just how closely-linked all the characters are. Also as previously stated, this book seriously messes with your head. It’s a bit like Mara Dyer, where at points you’re unsure what’s real and what’s not. It also makes you wonder. How would we know whether or not our lives were “real”? What makes something real? All in all, this is a pretty phenomenal book, and I urge everyone to try it out! Don’t be put off by other reviews! It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you think
it sounds cool I say go check it out!
I would recommend this to a friend.
White Space is beautifully written, has a cast of characters I am in love with (specifically my darling Casey), and seriously messes with your head. But a lot of people will tell you it’s confusing. Which it is. But not enough that, at least for me, I couldn’t figure out what was happening. Also, it helps add to the story, because ALL the characters are confused and have no idea what’s going on. But, I will admit, there were some things that happened and I was just like how the heck did they get from here to here? What just happened? If the book wasn’t so well-written, maybe this would’ve bugged me. But I adore her writing, so I think this definitely played apart in helping me overlook this book’s flaws. I don’t think anyone should stay away from White Space just because it’s confusing, however. Because it is a really, really great book and I don’t think it’s as popular as I think it should be. I agree that the confusing aspect doesn’t make this a book for everyone, but I still strongly suggest everyone at least try it. Just make sure you read slow if you’re worried about this so that you’re absorbing all the words. Like I said before, (multiple times), the writing is just amazing. I think it ‘s probably my favorite writing style that I’ve ever read. Ilsa J. Bick’s words just flow so smoothly, and her descriptions are so full and filled with rich vocabulary. She also does this thing where she ends a sentence without finishing the thought (usually at the end of the chapter) and completes the sentence in the next chapter, usually with a different character. I just LOVE this. I think it definitely shows just how closely-linked all the characters are. Also as previously stated, this book seriously messes with your head. It’s a bit like Mara Dyer, where at points you’re unsure what’s real and what’s not. It also makes you wonder. How would we know whether or not our lives were “real”? What makes something real? All in all, this is a pretty phenomenal book, and I urge everyone to try it out! Don’t be put off by other reviews! It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you think
it sounds cool I say go check it out!
I would recommend this to a friend.
December 9, 2013
Coming February 11th 2014 from Egmont.
Thank you to the author and publisher for the review copy via netgalley.
White Space is about a seventeen-year-old girl who jumps between the lines of books and into the white space where realities are created and destroyed – but who may herself be nothing more than a character written into being from an alternative universe.
I loved this concept – it kind of reminded me of Stephen King’s “Liseys Story” except involving younger people – the idea that stories and idea’s and the energy of them exist in a very specific place that people draw on in order to write and create. Many “nows” exist, and which are real it is difficult to say…
I admittedly was quite confused at the start of this one – there is a lot of information to absorb about the world our characters inhabit and many different terms to describe them and it takes a while to get your head around it but once you do its a fascinating story.
Keeping you off kilter throughout and never entirely sure what is going on or what twist on the tale lies just around the corner, this was a fun and exciting read. Those of you who have read the “Ashes” trilogy will be used to Ms Bick’s unique turn of phrase and if you enjoyed that you will certainly enjoy this. Its very different but certainly as compelling.
I shall look forward very much to the next book in this series.
Happy Reading Folks!
Thank you to the author and publisher for the review copy via netgalley.
White Space is about a seventeen-year-old girl who jumps between the lines of books and into the white space where realities are created and destroyed – but who may herself be nothing more than a character written into being from an alternative universe.
I loved this concept – it kind of reminded me of Stephen King’s “Liseys Story” except involving younger people – the idea that stories and idea’s and the energy of them exist in a very specific place that people draw on in order to write and create. Many “nows” exist, and which are real it is difficult to say…
I admittedly was quite confused at the start of this one – there is a lot of information to absorb about the world our characters inhabit and many different terms to describe them and it takes a while to get your head around it but once you do its a fascinating story.
Keeping you off kilter throughout and never entirely sure what is going on or what twist on the tale lies just around the corner, this was a fun and exciting read. Those of you who have read the “Ashes” trilogy will be used to Ms Bick’s unique turn of phrase and if you enjoyed that you will certainly enjoy this. Its very different but certainly as compelling.
I shall look forward very much to the next book in this series.
Happy Reading Folks!
December 22, 2013
True rating: 3.5 stars
Due to complete mind-f#ck that this books brings, this will be a very short review…
Before I started reading White Space, I saw some of the reviews and wasn’t sure if I was going to like or even understand the meaning of it. But after starting it and getting more invested in those teenager’s tragedy, I was really surprised. I am a big fan on dark fantasy and even though sometimes it’s a little hard to get into the world-building and vocabulary concept, this was a complete and utter, like I already said – mind-f#ck.
Different POVs of this book made sure that you paid attention to every little detail and even made me re-read the previous chapter. But I honestly didn’t mind because of the tension that was put on every single page. Some chapters stopped in the middle of the sentence (which is referred to the concept of White Space book passage) and made it more thrilling to find out what happens.
White Space is that kind of dark, twisted fantasy story that will test your mind and make you question everything you know about writing. Once you think you have a grasp on what is going to happen: BAM! A guy is on the windshield, clawing at the window without his tongue and his eyeballs popping out.. yeaaaaa… you’re in for a scary ride my friends.
Due to complete mind-f#ck that this books brings, this will be a very short review…
Before I started reading White Space, I saw some of the reviews and wasn’t sure if I was going to like or even understand the meaning of it. But after starting it and getting more invested in those teenager’s tragedy, I was really surprised. I am a big fan on dark fantasy and even though sometimes it’s a little hard to get into the world-building and vocabulary concept, this was a complete and utter, like I already said – mind-f#ck.
Different POVs of this book made sure that you paid attention to every little detail and even made me re-read the previous chapter. But I honestly didn’t mind because of the tension that was put on every single page. Some chapters stopped in the middle of the sentence (which is referred to the concept of White Space book passage) and made it more thrilling to find out what happens.
White Space is that kind of dark, twisted fantasy story that will test your mind and make you question everything you know about writing. Once you think you have a grasp on what is going to happen: BAM! A guy is on the windshield, clawing at the window without his tongue and his eyeballs popping out.. yeaaaaa… you’re in for a scary ride my friends.
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